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Conservative Party
The Conservative and Unionist Party, usually shortened to the Conservatives and known collquially as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in the Model House of Commons. It has consistently been the largest right-of-centre party in the Model House of Commons. The party was one of the first three parties formed at the creation of the Model House of Commons, along with the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats, with its first member being OllieSimmonds. In the first leadership election, OllieSimmonds was elected as party leader with 50% of the vote, and Javasaur was elected deputy leader. The Conservatives entered the first general election with the flagship policies of making cuts to the public sector, lowering taxes for low and high earners, increasing military spending and reintroducing grammar schools. In the election, the Conservatives finished only 1 vote behind the winning Labour Party, with 55 votes and 35.9% of the votes, gaining eleven seats. Despite negotiating with the Liberal Democrats for a coalition, the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition with the Labour Party after the two parties could not agree on social and foreign policy issues. This gave the coalition a majority of four over the Conservative Party. Since then, the Conservative Party has been in government for only 5 months of the simulation, with OllieSimmonds (October 2014 - March 2015) as the Prime Minister. The Conservative Party consistently performed well in general elections. The current leader of the Conservative Party, TheQuipton, currently leads Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition. History Origins The Conservative and Unionist Party was one of the first three parties formed in the simulation, along with Labour and the Liberal Democrats. At the time of its function, the real life Conservative and Unionist party was in an unpopular coalition government with the Liberal Democrats . Despite a sluggish start inside the party in gathering members, the party soon reached 10 members. Soon after, Timanfya, the speaker, initiated the first leadership election. OllieSimmonds Winning the leadership election with 50% of the vote, OllieSimmonds along with the newly elected deputy Javasaur set to work in partaking in the 1st general election. The deputy and the leader set out reforming the internal party before hand, revamping the CSS of the sub with a new banner (which is still the basis of the party CSS today) and surveying the party views on issues such as the Income Tax, the EU and same-sex marriage. Following a strong performance in the 1st general election resulting in a hung parliament, the Conservative Party went into Opposition facing the Labour-Liberal Democrat majority government. With the Conservatives in Opposition during the 2014 summer, the party slowly grew in membership. In the first bill of the term, the Railway Reform Bill 2014, the government defeated the Conservative Opposition by a tight 7 votes to 6. The first Tory piece of legislation, the Low Carbon Electricity and Renewables, passed despite absolute Labour opposition. John Locke1689 was appointed Chief Whip of the party. During a purge against inactivity within parties, deputy leader Javasaur succumbed. He was replaced by I miss Chris Hughton, who placed second in the first deputy leadership race. The Conservative Party lost another MP as Wrigley2345 defected to the newly founded UKIP, who would be a threat to the right-wing vote of the Conservatives in the future, and an ally on the floor. He was replaced by H-Flashman. Due to the large amounts of inactivity in parliament, and the introduction of the Greens and UKIP, the speaker called a by-election. The Conservatives campaigned on policy of retaining British Heritage, a referendum on membership to the EU, increasing the military budget, and reducing the deficit. The by-election, held in September 2014, was a disaster for the party, where they came in last with just 72 votes and gained just 2 seats (however 1 had been lost to inactivity already). Jamman35 and InfernoPlato were made the new MPs. They remained the largest opposition party. Around the time of the by-election, the Labour and Lib Dem leaders jointly submitted bills supporting the abolition of the monarchy. This was then hugely expanded to include a referendum, democratisation of the House of Lords and disenfranchisement of the Church of England. The Conservatives, along with their Liberal Democrat and UKIP allies were successful in pressuring the bill to be withdrawn, a great success for the party. The Tory party was embroiled in scandal after a “muckraking” of the accounts of Communist Party members, with the members involved given warnings. The Conservative Party failed to stop the flagship Labour Corporate Tax Bill, however passed H-Flashman’s Rape Anonymity Bill. Their motions aimed at putting major constitutional changes to referendums and to block undemocratic parties from the house both failed. The Conservatives reformed Student Finance. A Tory motion to push for Macedonian recognition in the EU passed. Despite a large campaign against it, the Charitable Status Reform of independent schools passed, removing from independent schools their tax free status. Jamman35’s Feed-In-Tariff Bill passed, the first bill with 100% Ayes. Towards the end of the first term the Conservatives achieved great success in foreign policy. After a change in the situation regarding terms of a government bill and large opposition from the government itself, the Iraq Airstrikes Motion fell through. With no response from the government, I_miss_chris_hughton, submitted a motion also authorised air strikes, which passed thanks to the Liberal Democrats rebelling against the government as it came closer to breakdown. They also passed a motion supporting Hong Kong, and beat UKIP to authorising a referendum on EU membership. The party held their first annual conference which was a success. They also had to deal with a large NHS walkout over the apparent privatisation threat by the Conservatives, which was appeased after a statement committing the Tories to the NHS. After disagreements between the government coalition members, the government dissolved and Athanton resigned as Prime Minister, paving the way for a General Election. They campaigned on major tax cuts; reducing immigration; socially conservative policies such as not legalising drugs and retaining British Values; no more constitutional change; a proactive foreign policy; and commitment to the NHS. The election was a huge success. The Conservatives won 19% of the votes with a total of 127 out of 659, just 5 less than the winning Communist Party. The Conservatives won in London, the East Midlands and the East of England as well as picking up a seat each from the West Midlands, Cornwall, and the North West, and 2 seats in the South East. 4 national seats were also awarded, leaving the party with 15 seats, joint with the Communist Party. After the Communists showed reluctance to compromise on their principles and form a coalition, the Conservatives negotiated for a coalition with UKIP, the Lib Dems and the independent Googolplexbyte. Eventually after the Lib Dems joined the Green-Labour coalition, UKIP, the Tories and Googolplexbyte formed a 26-man minority government, with OllieSimmonds as the Prime Minister. Other important cabinet positions held by Tory members included I_miss_Chris_Hughton as SoS for Foreign Affairs, Jamman35 as SoS for Energy, and H-Flashman as the Chancellor. Treeman1221 replaced John_Locke1689 as Chief Whip. Government The first major event of the government was dealing with the riots in Coventry, originating from the Mercia Free State terrorist organisation. The Green MP RandomPhotographer was kidnapped, homes were looted, a policemen killed and thousands rioted. The government used SCO19 to release the MP and brought in riot police, as well as authorising water cannons. The GCHQ was used to monitor its media streams and suppress perpetrators. The government stopped rioting in Birmingham and London getting out of hand. The government caused controversy by stopping all militias, including the Red Brigade and the Squadristi, despite the former protesting they were just a medical aid group. In the follow up report by crossbencher sZjLsFtA, the government’s actions were generally praised, apart from their use of water cannons and the ineffectiveness of suppressing social media. It was recommended that paramilitary groups were regulated, water cannons debated in the house and that the intelligence community should be looked at to see why there was so little intelligence prior to the event. Treeman1221 uncovered spying after the Communist Cae388 gained access to the party sub. He was banned for a month, sacked as an MP and suspended from running again until the end of the term. In early December, National MP Shazmio was shadowbanned and kevinwilson94 was selected to replace him. kevinwilson94 remained as leader of the lords whilst ieya404, a non-MP, was promoted to SoS for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs In mid December, H-Flashman the reigning Chancellor of the Exchequer resigned due to his studies at Oxford University. In his place, Sephronar was internally elected and then promoted to take H-Flashman's place as chancellor. It was around this time that the Tories were once again caught up in a scandal. LookingForWizard was publicly banned for 4 days after creating a poster which included a member's real name and images. Following this, MP's from both sides of the house called for LookingForWizard to be sacked. In response, the PM sacked him as Secretary of State for Women and Equalities and appointed ViscountHoratio as minister. During the January expansion of the house, the Conservatives won 6 extra seats. Treeman1221 TheQuipton Government Policies Economic Social Foreign Defence Health Drugs The Conservatives have shown consistent opposition to the legalisation of drug legalisation, maintaining that the War on Drugs is working. However, there have been instances where senior members have deviated from this policy. A constant feature on the Conservative Party manifesto has been the repeal of the Drug Reform Act 2015. Education In education, the party has supported grammar schools and after succeeding in legalising them, have defended the policy from repeal. Unification of the education system across the United Kingdom and the promotion of British culture in school has also been a feature of Conservative policy. Academies are supported for failing schools whilst they have also argued in favour of STEM subjects being expanded upon in schools. Apprenticeships are a feature in the Conservative post-16 plan. Cooperation between local businesses and schools are to be encouraged. Jobs and welfare Energy and climate change Justice and crime European Union Softly eurosceptic, the Conservative Party are known for their divides on the European Union. However, recent polling suggests many favour withdrawal in the party. During the first election, the Conservative Party campaigned on giving Britain a referendum on the issue. The European Union (Referendum) Act legislated by the Conservatives gave the referendum and the British public decided to narrowly stay in. Since then, the Conservatives have made it policy to reform the EU into their image - including reforming the EU Commmission and increasing transparency, reducing bureaucracy and an opt out to ever closer union. Unionism The Conservative Party are supporters of the United Kingdom union which includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This has been a consistent policy of the party since its inception and despite gaining some supporters of independence in the party, the policy has remained the same. They oppose devolution to nation states. British constitution Generally the Conservative Party has supported retaining the current House of Lords system and opposes any attempt to change. Supporters of the monarchy, the Conservative Party has opposed any attempt to have a referendum on the matter, believing that it undermines the concept of the monarchy. The Party opposes any attempt to have powers given to the European Union. Organisation Party membership The membership application for the Conservative Party is simple in comparison to other parties. Prospective members only have to apply through the latest 'Join a Party' thread and a delegate from the Conservative party will come to evaluate whether an applicant is suitable. Members in the Conservative party gain access to /r/MHOCConservatives where legislation, coalitions and party business is conducted. Members are also added to the Conservative party membership mailing list and are given the option to joining a policy committee. In the party, the Conservative members are allowed to propose legislation and motions inside the party and these can be adopted. Committees Committees inside the Conservative are led by the internal Head of Internal Committees, who is elected by ordinary members of the party. No Lord or MP can be the chairperson, making the position about the membership primarily. Currently nobody holds the position, and an election is underway due to the previous Head, Jas1066, gaining a MP seat in the 4th general election. Policy committees The Policy committees were first implemented after a proposal by InfernoPlato, who was assisted by TheQuipton. Committees would form the backbone of the legislation process inside the Conservative Party. In the Conservative party, there are three policy committees called the Economic/Foreign/Domestic committee. These are supervised by the relevant shadow or cabinet minister. The Chancellor or Shadow Chancellor supervises the economic committee, the Foreign or Shadow Foreign Secretary supervises the Foreign committee, and the Home or Shadow Home Secretary supervises the Domestic committee. In the committees, legislation or motions are first showed to their reverent committees in their very first draft form. These are then commented on and improved by discussion and corrections to the legislation. Discussions in the form of articles and reddit live threads also take place in the committees. After a dip in activity and the occupation of the policy committees by RoryTime, InfernoPlato campaigned on a platform during the November 2015 Deputy Leadership campaign to abolish the committees. The policy committees are no longer in use. Leadership Upon the party's creation in May 2014, the Conservative party opted a leadership position consisting of a leader (whom was elected) and a deputy leader (whom was also elected). The leader and deputy leader are responsible for representing the party during coalition talks, take responsibility for internal party organisation such as setting up discussion threads, appointing cabinet or spokesperson roles. In November 2015, a second deputy leadership position was introduced after a democratic vote within the party. The Chairperson is responsible for organisation by election and general election campaigns. They are not elected, but are appointed by the leader of the party. The responsibilities of the chairperson consist of preparing the party for elections and ensuring party members are comfortable in the party. The Chairperson of the party is in regular contact with the leader and deputy leaders to consult on party organisation and satisfaction. International organisations The Conservative Party are a member of the Model United Centre Right, aimed at improving international cooperation and policy consultations on a global scale. A founding member, the party is very influential within it. Electoral performance This chart shows the electoral performance of the Conservative Party in general elections since June 2014 Leaders of the Conservative Party Deputy Leaders of the Conservative Party Chairmen of the Conservative Party Associated Press * The MHoC Endeavour Category:Parties